Trailer overlanding

[D90John]

How many of you would pull a small off road trailer vs loading (or overloading) your Jeep roof rack with all of the same gear? There are pros and cons to both. I spent 20 years running a RTT with a certain British vehicle. My wife and I now take out our new JLUR diesel with an older, one off tow behind. Nearly all the gear lives in the trailer with an additional fridge/ freezer and lunch fixings in the back of the JL. This system has worked well for us and we can turn this trailer around on some very tight trails. Additionally, the tent is much lower to the ground so getting up at night ( yes, I’m over 70 and need to get up at night) is much easier. Center of gravity is much lower so we do do some interesting off camber trails either with the trailer or park it at our camp spot and go run the trails with a very light load of gear. I’d really like to hear your thoughts as I am new to the Wrangler forum.

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[GerJL]

I haven't done any overlanding or camping yet, but I prefer the way you are doing it. I much rather pull a small trailer with most everything in it and keep my vehicle light to run the trails.

 

[jg45]

I have not pulled it with the JL yet, but I have a M416 trailer with tent mounted that I take when overlanding. It's nice to be able to park the trailer set up at a campsite for a few days and go explore then come back to camp already made and not have to break camp every time I want to move the vehicle. Fridge and some other gear like camp chairs, PETT toilet, etc stay with us.

 

[SeanR1]

I love the rig. Looks great.

 

[zb39]

Looks awesome, congrats.

 

[D90John]

I have not pulled it with the JL yet, but I have a M416 trailer with tent mounted that I take when overlanding. It's nice to be able to park the trailer set up at a campsite for a few days and go explore then come back to camp already made and not have to break camp every time I want to move the vehicle. Fridge and some other gear like camp chairs, PETT toilet, etc stay with us.

 

[D90John]

Hello jg45- d90john here. You trailer sounds well thought out. I have a deep cycle battery mounted in mine that runs the fridge and powers the under carriage night lites. Everything stays charged up with a foldable solar charging system so I don’t drain my Jeep battery. What type of hitch did you install if I might ask?

 

[CallMeJoe]

I pull a teardrop trailer (everywhere!) with my 2018 JLUR. I've added a lot of stuff to the trailer (Timbren long travel suspension, diesel heater, generator, pintle hitch, etc) but let's be straight:
You can go a lot of places with a trailer behind you (plenty of places you SHOULDN'T go!) but the best plan for a trailer is to plan for dropping it as a base camp occasionally and Jeeping naked....and without a trailer. Another thing that is a great addition to off-roading with a trailer is to put a switch on the brake controller circuit. That'll keep the trailer from sliding down sideways on a greasy, sketchy sidehill. Don't ask me how I know.
The best 2 upgrades I've done to my trailer for off-roading are the Timbren suspension and the Pintle hitch. Lot's of guys use the weird, 360 rotation, 3 axis off-road hitches, but my pintle hitch has been bulletproof and trouble free for many thousands of miles. It CAN be a bit noisy, but I added a 3" long section of radiater hose (2") on the Pintle and it's as quiet as a ball hitch.

 

[jg45]

Hello jg45- d90john here. You trailer sounds well thought out. I have a deep cycle battery mounted in mine that runs the fridge and powers the under carriage night lites. Everything stays charged up with a foldable solar charging system so I don’t drain my Jeep battery. What type of hitch did you install if I might ask?

I am still using the pintle hitch and lunette ring set up it was built with. I would eventually like to swap it to a max coupler hitch. I have been debating adding power to the trailer. Fridge stays in the vehicle so it is with me when we drop the trailer though and so not convinced on that. May end up just getting a jackery or something similar.

To me, that is the great thing about towing a trailer. If I am staying in an area for a few days, I can drop the trailer making a base camp and go explore. Don't have to pack everything when I want to leave. Also, it gives me more room inside the rig since I can carry a lot of the gear in the trailer.

 

[RenegadeJeeper]

Been looking for an m416 for almost a decade here.
Can't find any in the OKC or surrounding areas

 

[redracer]

Been looking for an m416 for almost a decade here.
Can't find any in the OKC or surrounding areas

I couldn't find one either, at least not for a reasonable price.

After a bunch of searching, I found that Lowes has similar sized trailer for $450 that has 2k axles and is a good starting point.

I have all ready done a spring over conversion on it and will be putting my rubicon tires / wheels on it once I upgrade my jeep. As for the rest, I'm planning out how I want this to work. I like the OP's setup of boxes on the outsides, so I may go that route. It's a good project, now if I only had the time to work on it.

 

[D90John]

I couldn't find one either, at least not for a reasonable price.

After a bunch of searching, I found that Lowes has similar sized trailer for $450 that has 2k axles and is a good starting point.

I have all ready done a spring over conversion on it and will be putting my rubicon tires / wheels on it once I upgrade my jeep. As for the rest, I'm planning out how I want this to work. I like the OP's setup of boxes on the outsides, so I may go that route. It's a good project, now if I only had the time to work on it.

 

[D90John]

Nice trailer for the price. I agree that these units are priced high. Mine was build in the 90’s and has been down the Rubicon several times and all over the south-west. Are you planning on putting a RTT on yours Or just haul gear? My plastic table appears to be similar to yours and its stored right under the tent platform. Everything is very simple which makes setup and use simple too. The side boxes work great as counter space when the doors are open unlike standard horizontally opening doors. Please keep sharing your trailer outfitting as it should be an interesting JOURNEY. JOHN

 

[Toycrusher]

I'm incredibly jealous. 3 kids flat-out kills any sort of RTT, even mounted to trailer, well, a trailer of manageable size anyway

 

[redracer]

Nice trailer for the price. I agree that these units are priced high. Mine was build in the 90’s and has been down the Rubicon several times and all over the south-west. Are you planning on putting a RTT on yours Or just haul gear? My plastic table appears to be similar to yours and its stored right under the tent platform. Everything is very simple which makes setup and use simple too. The side boxes work great as counter space when the doors are open unlike standard horizontally opening doors. Please keep sharing your trailer outfitting as it should be an interesting JOURNEY. JOHN

I would like to eventually go RTT and outfit it with an awning and kitchen boxes. I'm even playing with where to mount a small water tank and pump. Initially, tho, it will just be a stuff hauler to base camp.

I'm incredibly jealous. 3 kids flat-out kills any sort of RTT, even mounted to trailer, well, a trailer of manageable size anyway

I'm in a similar situation with 2 kids + a Lab... I think that my answer will be for the kids to eventually get their own tent, but with my youngest at 2.5 yo, he's not ready for that yet. Right now we just use a gigantic single room tent with two inflatable beds side by side.

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